Sliding door latch



JulyV 29, 1941. H. KUMP SLIJDINGDOOR LATCH Filed Nov. 14, 1939 ATTORNEY lNVENTOR Henry @ma Patented July 29, 1941 ur orFIcE i summa` nooit LATCH henry Kump, Berwick, Pa., assignor to American Car and Foundry Comp corporation of New Jersey any, New York, N. Y., aV

Application November 14, 1939, Serial No. '304,287

' fr@Creez-41s) 7 Claims.`

This invention relates to door latches in general and in particular to such latches intended for use on sliding doors for freight cars.

It has been found highly desirable in freight car service to provide some means for' retaining the door against sliding movement, for Without such a means a large Iamount of damage has resulted due to banging of doors during transit. The most generally used method of. checking sliding doors-is bythe use of lift devices which will permit the door to rest upon its track' or be lifted free thereof for sliding movement. Such lift devices, however, are quite expensive and become hard to operate after being in service due to wear, distortion and rusting. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a simple means for preventing accidental sliding movement of the door yet without requiring expensive door lift devices.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a. latch for sliding doors which Will engage the track and be released upon movement of the door operating handle inthe direction it is desired to move the door. f

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a latchV for sliding doors which is operated by movement of the door handle.

A yet further object of the invention is thevprovision of a latch for sliding doors which may be applied to existing doors having non-lift rollers or other anti-friction devices.

These and other objectsof the invention Will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is an elevational view of the lower portion of a door having the improved latch applied thereto and with portions of the structure broken away to more clearly disclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational View of the mechanism shown in Figure 1 but wit-h the major portion of the housing removed to disclose the internal latch mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

' Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken substantially on line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. 6;Y

Fig. 6 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the latch inrreleased position;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged elevational view disclosing aV modified form of door track for cooperating Withthe improved latch;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 'Tand showing the relative relation of latch and door supporting roller; n

Fig. 9 is a partial elevational View showingl a still further form of door track, and

Fig. 10 is a sectional View ofthe construction shownvin Fig. 9'and disclosing the relation between the latch and door supporting roller.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that the latch assembly A (Fig. 1) is applied to a more or less conventional door formed with a corrugated central panel 2 attached at its side edges to Stiles 4 and at its bottom edge to abottom rail 5 which also joins the stiles together. The door is shown-as supported by rollers Iii located in housings 8 arranged adjacent each lower-corner ofthe door. The type of door and the manner in whichit is supported is immaterial for theimproved latch may be used with either roller supported, ball supported or 'straight vertically supported Ysliding doors or the supporting anti-friction rollers may be carried either bythe door as shown or by the track without interfering with Vthe operation of the improved latch.. y

The latch assembly consists of a housing having imperforate end 'and top flanges I 2 and a bottom ange i4 joined together by ,an outer plate I 6. If desired the anges may also be joined by means of an inner plate, but inthe instance shown suchv plate I 8 is discontinuous and` merely joins one end flange and the adjacent ends of the top and bottom flanges. As clearly shown in Fig. 2 the bottom flange is deflected upwardly as at 2D and terminates short of the front ange of the house; ing, thus providing av downwardly directed open? ing in whichY the latch dogs Amay swing. The inner plate of the housing is formed with a de-Y pression 22 (Fig. 3) and this depression has'an'V opening provided therein substantially in align-V ment with a similar opening in the outervplate and these openings are adapted to receive headed pivot pin 24. This pivot pin rotatably carries thereon an inner latch dog 26 and an outer latch dog 28, said dogs being substantially L-shaped and each being 4formed with a lower trackl 'en-Z gaging portion 3o having a tip adapted to engage Within spaces provided in the track T. As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, these spaces inthe track may be formed by cutting notches 32 in the track and4 Welding a strap 34 to the track beneath the notches, thereby preventing the latch dogs from engaging too deeply within the track recesses.

'Ihe inner latch dog 26 is, as previously stated,

door supporting adapted to be straddled by the forked end 48` formed at the upper end of the outer latch dog 28 previously referred to andvwhich is pivotally mounted upon the pivot pin 24. The latch dog operator may be of any desired form but in the present instance has its forward part formed substantially triangular with the base pivoted on pin 42 and an apex connected by meansof a projection 50 to a counterweight 52. As is clearly shown in Fig. 2, the latch dog operator is formed so as to provide converging surfaces 54 constituting cam means adapted to be envgaged by the inturned end S of door operating handle 58 and to ride thereon during movement of the operating handle. This door operating handle has its upper end turned inwardly as at 60 and carries a washer 6I welded thereto and providing a head retaining the handle within a thimble 62 welded or otherwise secured to the door. The lower inturned edge of the door operating handle extends through an elongated slot in the outer plate of the latch housing and this elongated slot is preferably covered at all times by means of outer and inner cover plates 64 and 66 respectively welded or otherwise secured to the handle. Inwardly of the inner cover plate 56 the inturned handle is provided with spaced guides 68 adapted to receive therebetween the latch dog operator 40 and prevent any displacement thereof. It is, of course, obvious from the preceding description that the entire latch arrangement may be assembled and brought to the car door and attached to the same merely by welding or otherwise attaching the housing and thimble 62 to the door in the proper position and when so attached the various pivot pins cannot be removed nor can snow or rain obtain entrance to the latch mechanism due to the fact that the housing is entirely closed except for the small downwardly directed opening necessary for movement of the latch d'ogs.

The assembled latch unit as previously stated may be applied to any type of sliding door utilizing any type of supporting mechanism and is operated merely by grasping the door handle and imparting a pull or push thereto in the direction which it is desired to move the door. Thus with the parts in a latched position as shown by Fig. 2 an-operator desiring to move the door toward the right would impart a push or pull to the handle 58 causing the same to pivot in the thimble with the result that the inturned end 56 will ride along inclined surface 54 and cause movement of the latch dog operator about its pivot pin 42 to the position shown in Fig. 6. In this position the lugs carried by the latch dog operator will have rotated the latch dogs in opposite directions through engagement with the forked ends thereof and the latch dogs will be lifted clear of any projections or recesses formed on or in the track. Movement of the operating handle in the opposite direction will cause an exactly similar movement ofY the latch dog operator and latch dogs and immediately upon release of the latch handle the counterweight 52 will promptly return the operating handle to its normal position, thereby causing the latch dogs to descend upon the track to engage any projection or recess formed on or in the track and thereby preventing movement of the door in either direction. 'I'hus an operator cannot leave a door in a condition permitting its free sliding movements and the latch is operated without a conscious effort on the part of the operator, for he merely grasps the handle and applies the force necessary to move the door in the desired direction.

In some instances it will be found impossible or too expensive to notch the track as was explained in connection with Figs. 2 and 3. In such cases projections may be formed on the track by welding or otherwise attaching small blocks 'I0v thereto (Figs. '7 and 8). These blocks, like the recesses previously described, are positioned at one side of the surface along which the supporting roller travels.

In other cases it will be found cheaper to punch holes 16 in the flange of the track at one side of the surface along which the supporting rollers travel (Figs. 9 and 10). In case the track is punched with openings, then in order to prevent excessive engagement of the latching dogs the lower projections 30 thereof may be modified slightly to provide an inclined surface 'I8 which will engage the supper surface of the track and prevent excessive engagement of the latch dogs.

While the invention has been described more or less in detail and with certain reference to the supporting track structure, it will, of course, be obvious that various modifications and rearrangements of parts will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art and all such modiiications and rearrangements of parts other than those shown and described are contemplated and which fall within the scope of the following claims dening my invention.

What is claimed is:

l. Latch mechanismA for doorsmountcd for sliding movement along a track comprising, latching dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track, said latching dogs being substantially L-shaped with their lower portions arranged in downwardly diverging relationship for engagement with said track to prevent sliding `movement of the door, and a handle pivotally carried by the door for swinging movement in either direction, said handle being operatively connected to said latching dogs to rotate the same out of engagement with said track during swinging of the handle in either direction.

2. Latch mechanism for doors mounted for sliding movement along a track comprising, latching dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track, said latching dogs being substantially L-shaped with their lower portions arranged in downwardly diverging relationship forengagement with said track; to prevent sliding movement of the door, a handle pivotally mounted adjacent one end on the door for swinging movement of the other end in either direction, and a latch dog operator pivotally carried by the door and operatively connected to said latching dogs, said latch dog operator resting upon said other end of said handle and being so constructed and arranged as to be lifted during swinging of said handle in either direction to rotate said latching dogs out of engagement with the track.

3. Latch mechanism for doors mounted for sliding movement along a track comprising, latchlng dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track, said latching dogs being substantially L-shaped with their lower portions arranged in downwardly diverging relationship for engagement with said track to prevent sliding movement of the door, and a handle pivotally carried by the door for swinging movement in either direction, said handle being operatively connected to said latching dogs to rotate the same in opposite directions and out of engagement with said track during the swinging of said handle n either direction.

4. Latch mechanism for doors mounted for sliding movement along a track comprising, latching dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track, said latching dogs being substantially L-shaped with their lower portions arranged in downwardly diverging relationship and having wedging engagement with said track to prevent sliding movement of the door, and a handle carried by the door and movable relative thereto, said handle being operatively connected to said latching dogs to rotate the same in opposite directions and out of wedging engagement with said track irrespective of the direction of movement of said handle.

5. Latch mechanism for doors mounted for sliding movement along a track comprising, latching dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track, said latching dogs being substantially L-shaped with their lower portions arranged in downwardly diverging relationship and having wedging engagement with said track to prevent sliding movement of the door, a latch dog operator pivotally carried by the door and connected to said latch dogs to rotate the same in opposite directions out of wedging engagement with the track during movement of said latch dog operator upon its pivot, and handle means carried by the door and causing movement of said latch dog operator upon application of force to the handle in the direction of desired door movement.

6. Latch mechanism for doors mounted for sliding movement along a track comprising, latching dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track, said latching dogs being substantially L-shaped with their lower portions arranged in downwardly diverging relationship and having wedging engagement with said track to prevent sliding movement of the door, a latch dog operator pivotally carried by the door and connected to said latching dogs to rotate the same in opposite directions out of wedging engagement with the track during movement of said latch dog operator upon its pivot, and handle means carried by the door and causing rmovement of said latch dog operator upon application of force to the handle in the direction of desired door movement, said latch dog operator being formed with a counterweighted end to automatically return the latch dogs to track engaging position upon cessation of force application to the handle.

'7. Latch mechanism for doors mounted for sliding movement along a track comprising, latching dogs pivotally carried by the door adjacent the track and formed with downwardly diverging lower portions Yngageable with said track to prevent sliding movement of the door, a handle pivotally mounted adjacent one end on the door for swinging movement of the other end in either direction, and a latch dog operator pivotally carried by the door and operatively connected to said latching dogs, said latch dog operator being provided with cam means in engagement with said other end of said handle to effect lifting of said latch dog operator Vduring swinging of the handle in either direction to disengage said latch dogs from the track.

HENRY KUMP. 

